Bradley: Paterno was a father figure

STATE COLLEGE -- The coach who looked to Joe Paterno as a father figure quietly found himself a seat alone at the back.

Tom Bradley, the former Penn State football player and longtime defensive coordinator -- and one-time possible successor to Paterno -- sat in a chair on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center and listened to all of the eulogies, one by one.

He put his head in his hands at times and thought.

It would have been difficult not to relive memories of his own father who died a decade ago.

Paterno was the first to talk to Tom Bradley after that happened. He was the first person in the church at the funeral.

That long talk in his office, "I could still tell you word for word for what he said, and he was absolutely right. ... It helped me in understanding how life works. And things with memories. And what my father would expect from me."

Before the memorial service, Bradley talked about the life lessons Paterno taught him.

"He always saw the good in you. He always thought you could be better than you thought you were. ... And he knew the buttons to push to get you there."

Bradley's father saw that. Three of his sons played for Paterno.

"For my dad it was always easy, two people were always right: him and coach Paterno."

Bradley stationed himself at the back of the floor seating of Thursday's service, almost as if he didn't want to be a distraction. He was let go from his interim head coaching position and did not become a part of Bill O'Brien's new staff.

Could he be joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as some have rumored? Or Rutgers' new staff?

This day, though, was about Paterno.

And Bradley's own father.

Before a game a few years ago, Bradley approached Paterno.

"I looked at him and said, 'Coach, it's been eight years now since my father passed away, and the words you said to me that day, you're absolutely right.'"

Paterno smiled.

"I knew you'd get it."

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Showing their spirit: Staffers at the Paterno Library on campus wore blue T-shirts on Thursday that read, "Joe Knows Libraries."

Joe and Sue Paterno gave large donations to the library's renovation and expansion.

Meanwhile, library patrons were writing messages on colored sticky notes and attaching them to two large cardboard cutouts of the coach.

Keppy Arnoldsen, 55, of Huntingdon shed some tears as she wrote her message. She met Paterno years ago as a new graduate student.

"Joe did more for this library than anybody," she said. "Everybody thinks he was the showcase person, but he wasn't."

Some record: Charlie Pittman, an All-America running back in the 1960s, preceded his son, Tony, who was a cornerback for the Nittany Lions in the early 1990s.

During his poignant eulogy Thursday, Charlie Pittman pointed out how Penn State was a combined 45-0-1 when he and his son started games for the Lions.

Tough guys: Linebacker Mike Mauti broke up the audience by telling them a story from his practice days under Paterno.

Mauti's father, Rich, played for Paterno years before.

"I got into a fight at practice and I got kicked out of a drill, which wasn't all that uncommon," Mike Mauti began. "And I'm sitting there on the sideline and I've got my helmet off, and there's steam coming out of my ears."

Mauti then did his best Paterno impersonation, waving his arm and giving that famous nasal screech.

"He came over to me and said, 'Your dad used to think he was tough, too, he'd get into fights all the time.'"

Another impression: Jay Paterno, who served under his father as quarterbacks coach, began his remarks by imitating his father's raspy, high-pitched voice, telling the audience, "Sit down! Sit down!"

Growing serious, Paterno described his last moments with his father. As Paterno lay dying, his son kissed him and whispered in his ear.

"Dad, you won," Jay Paterno said he told him. "You did all you could do. You've done enough. We all love you. We won. You can go home now."

Lots of coverage: There were 327 credentialed media for the memorial ceremony.

@YDRPennState; 771-2104. The Associated Press contributed to this report.